Organization

Conductor

Leo Hussain

Stage director

Plamen Beikov

Chorus master

Steliana Dimitrova-Hernani

Svilen Dimitrov

Translator

Plamen Beykov

Singer

Tenor

Omar Najmi

Hamlet

Soprano

Brianna Robinson

Ophelia

Bass

Kevin Thompson

Polonius

Baritone

Evan Bravos

Claudius

Michelle Trainor

Gertrude

Mezzo-soprano

Katherine Pracht

Horatio

Neil Ferreira

Laertes

Dobromir Momekov

Rosenkrantz

Teodor Petkov

Guildenstern

Contralto

Melanie Forgeron

Actress Queen

Joseph Hubbard

Actor King

Mariya Anastasova

Will

John

Emil Zhelev

Priest

Miroslav Hristov

Prologue

Daush Atesh

Herald

State Opera Rousse

Others

Choir of the State Opera Ruse

Orchestra

Orchestra of the State Opera Ruse

Rousse

Bulgaria

Dohodno zdanie

Public

Approved

Hamlet Joseph Summer

Hamlet is a three-act opera. It is based on the original text of Shakespeare, which was masterfully adapted for opera libretto by composer Joseph Summer. The opera was completed in 2006. In the years since its creation, the composer has repeatedly organized in Boston, where he lives and works, master classes and creative workshops on the interpretation of contemporary music, during which many young opera singers prepare and perform fragments of his work. Thus, the opera "Hamlet" lives in the musical consciousness and in the emotional world of opera artists, many of whom will participate in the current production of the Ruse Opera, which will present the world premiere of the work.

The show is sponsored by the Mattina R. Proctor Foundation, Navona Records, Parma Recordings and The Shakespeare Concerts. 

At the age of 15, the American composer Joseph Summer was admitted to the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with Richard Hoffmann, Schoenberg's assistant. He graduated in Musical Composition in 1976. He taught Music Theory at the Carnegie Mellon University Music Department and became an active composer. Summer's compositional style boldly entered the avant-garde territories, but without completely abandoning the elements of Late Neoclassicism, defending the aesthetics of a beautiful historical continuity in its conservative sequence.
Joseph Summer has an established affinity for classical literary sources for his compositions. He created a series of comic operas based on the stories of Boccaccio in Decameron. For almost two decades he has been deeply researching the work of William Shakespeare. He is the author of a collection of musical works on the living texts of the Bard, which he entitled "Oxford Songs". In addition to the individual scenes, sonnets and songs of Shakespeare in "Oxford Songs", in 2006 Summer completed the opera "Hamlet" and "The Storm" in 2013.

Leo Hussain studied at St John’s College, Cambridge University, and the Royal Academy of Music. He began his career in 2004 as Head of Music for English Touring Opera’s spring tours, subsequently appearing for Glyndebourne on Tour and Opera North. He also assisted Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev and the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival. He spent five years as Music Director of Salzburg Landestheater and is also the former Principal Conductor of Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie. 
Hussain works regularly in concert with orchestras including NHK Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra - Cologne, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Prague Philharmonia, Royal Danish Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras. He has also worked with the George Enescu Philharmonic, Sofia Philharmonic and Hamburg Symphony orchestras.

The director Plamen Beikov graduated in opera singing at the Royal College of Music - London and specialized with the famous Bulgarian singer Boris Hristov in Rome.
As an opera artist he has participated in productions of all Bulgarian opera houses and has toured in almost all European countries, USA and Japan. He has performed in the most prestigious concert halls in Spain and Russia.
In 2020 Plamen Beikov defended his master's degree in Music and Stage Directing at the National Music Academy "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov" in the class of Prof. Dr. Violeta Gorcheva.
Among the titles he has written are "The Human Voice" by Poulenc (2016, 2020), the one-act opera by Pergolesi "The Music Teacher" (2016), the world premiere of the opera "Flames in the Sails of the Night" by Giorgos Minas (2017), "Maria Desislava" by Parashkev Hadjiev (2017), "History of the Soldier" by Stravinsky (2018), "The Coffee Cantata" by JS Bach (2019 and 2020), "The Ball of the Ungrateful" by Claudio Monteverdi (2019) , The Marriage of Figaro (2021).


Tenor Omar Najmi as Hamlet is a familiar face on the stages of Boston, where he makes his home. An alumnus of Boston Lyric Opera's Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artist Program, Omar has appeared in over ten productions with the company, including his critically acclaimed performances as Vanya Kudrjas in Katya Kabanova, Nick in The Handmaid's Tale, Beppe in Pagliacci, and many more. Omar is a recipient of the Harold Norblom Award, awarded by Opera Colorado, where he completed a residency as a Young Artist in the 2016/2017 season. His appearances with Opera Colorado include Joe in La Fanciulla del West, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Edgardo in the Lucia di Lammermoor Student Matinee.
Off of the operatic stage, Omar has maintained an active concert career. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2018 as the tenor soloist in Mark Hayes' Gloria, and he has since returned twice - as the tenor soloist in Dan Forrest's Requiem for the Living, and as a soloist in Talents of the World's Caruso Tribute Concert. He has made appearances with the Helena Symphony Orchestra in Rossini's Stabat Mater, the Savannah Philharmonic in Mozart's Requiem, the Greenwich Choral Society in Mendelssohn's Lobgesang, and many more. He has also performed several times with the touring concert Video Games Live, including performances with the Colorado Symphony at Colorado's famed Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Omar has worked with composer Joseph Summer while singing the title role in the workshop of his opera Hamlet. Omar can be heard performing several of Summer's works on the albums Music to Hear, and Who is Sylvia?, both released through Navona Records. Omar can also be heard on the album Video Games Live: Level 5, and on the soundtrack to Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
Omar is also active as a composer - his first opera, En la ardiente oscuridad, received its premiere in 2019, and it will be performed again at the Phoenicia Festival of the Voice in August 2021.
Omar holds a M.M. from Boston University, and a B.M. from Ithaca College.

Brianna Robinson as Ophelia is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University with degrees in Vocal Music Performance and Black World Studies. Some of her credits include Ms. Nordstrom in A Little Night Music, Penelope Pennywise in Urinetown, Little Red Riding Hood in Little Red’s Most Unusual Day and a lead soloist in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen. She has done scenes work with roles such as Josephine from H.M.S Pinafore, Countess from Le Nozze di Figaro and Yum Yum from The Mikado. Brianna is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music and has just recently been named the winner of the 2017-2018 Vocal Concerto Competition. At Eastman she has been involved in the Voice and Opera Department’s spring opera, Cendrillon, in the Baroque performance ensemble, Collegium, as a soloist and ensemble member and will perform scenes from Massenet’s Manon as the title role. Along with her degree in Performance and Literature from Eastman, she is also a Catherine Filene Shouse Fellow through the Arts Leadership Program.

The soprano Michelle Trainor as Gertrude, is a Boston-based singer who specializes in opera, oratorio and art song. Opera News hailed that “Michelle Trainor gave one of the most satisfying performances of the evening . . . her voice is richer and more expressive than ever” for her portrayal of Brangain in Boston Lyric Opera’s The Love Potion. The Musical Intelligencer has called Michelle Trainor, the kind of classic opera soprano whose glorious, powerful sound raises every hair on your body and makes you melt at the wonder of the human voice” for her performance of Isolde’s Liebestod.

The Greek-American baritone Evan Bravos as Claudius has a rich repertoire in the genres of opera, oratorio and art songs.
Soloist at the Chicago Opera and the Santa Barbara Opera, Bravos made his professional debut last season as Maximilian in Bernstein's Candide at the Ravinia Festival. In the 2018-19 season, he starred in the Virginia Opera, starring George Jones in Kurt Weil's Street Stage and Don Juan's Basement, and Papageno (The Magic Flute), Count Gill. "The Secret of Susanna") and Gasparo ("Rita") perform at the Sarasota Opera House.
His repertoire includes the roles of Count Almaviva ("The Wedding of Figaro"), Figaro ("The Barber of Civilization"), Martin ("Candid"), Sid ("Albert Herring"), Dr. Falke ("The Bat"), " Carmina Burana ”, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony,“ Elijah ”, Mendelssohn, Gabriel Faure’s Requiem (in Paris, Strasbourg and Munich). An avid recitalist, Bravos has appeared at a number of music festivals, including the Western Academy of Music, the Ravinia Festival and the Horto and Naxos Music Festivals in Greece. In 2018 he was included in the concert series of the Institute of Collaborative Arts in Chicago together with pianist Shannon McGinnis in the production of "The Good Things of Youth", a musical drama based on the beloved novel by Will Cutter "Lucy Guyhart".
In 2017 he was a finalist in the competition of the National Opera Association "Dominic Argento" and winner of the competition of the Pasadena Opera Guild.

The tenor Neil Ferreira as Laertes is often praised for his "rich, powerful voice" and "full of exceptional stage presence." The promising lyrical tenor has a beautiful, masculine quality of tone, to which he brings cultivated vocalism and eloquent expression. Singing professionally for more than a decade in operas and oratorios, the tenor is the winner of the 2012-13 Artist of the Year Award at the Syracuse Opera. He has also sung with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Florida Grand Opera, the Boston Lyric Opera, the Glimmerglass Festival, the Virginia Opera, the Colorado Opera, the Boston Opera, the American Repertory Theater, Emmanuel Music and the Guerilla Opera.

The bass Kevin Thompson as Polonius has a voice with exceptional range, depth and color very suitable for this role. The 2019-2020 season for Kevin Thompson begins with the premiere in the United States of "Ali Baba" by Botesini, where he plays the role of Abul Hassan. Later that season, he returned to the New Orleans Opera, where he played Thibaut in Tchaikovsky's The Maiden of Orleans and made his San Jose Opera debut as Zarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute and the Miami Classical Music Festival, as Fafner in Wagner's Rhine Gold. His repertoire also includes the roles of King Solomon in "The Queen of Sheba" by Gounod, Sparafuccile in "Rigoletto", Sechs Richter in "Das Wunder der Heliane" by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Ramphis in "Aida" and "Requiem" by Verdi. Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor.

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